Former Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron said wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav will continue to miss out of India’s playing XI for the third Test match against England. The Lord’s pitch is expected to aid the fast bowlers and Aaron reckons Yadav will continue to warm the benches.
Yadav has scalped 56 wickets in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 22.16. Against England, Kuldeep has bagged 21 wickets in six Test matches at an impressive average of 22.28.
Meanwhile, India had backed Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar in the second Test against England and the visitors are expected to continue the all-rounder duo.
“Not at all, I wouldn’t consider an extra spinner at Lord’s. We all know. The numbers say it all. Mostly fast bowlers take wickets at Lord’s,” Aaron said on JioHotstar when asked about Kuldeep’s chances of playing the third Test.
On the other hand, former Indian wicket-keeper batter Deep Dasgupta wants Kuldeep Yadav to be part of the playing XI but feels it might be difficult to slot him.
“Yes, Kuldeep can come into the XI. That’s what you can hope for but it looks very difficult. I would definitely keep him in my XI, but I think it is difficult to fit him in because of what happened at Edgbaston. If Karun Nair had scored runs at No.3 or Nitish Reddy at No.6, then the think tank could have gotten the confidence to drop a batter to play an extra spinner. So yeah, as much as I’d want him in my side, it looks difficult,” Dasgupta said.
Meanwhile, Jadeja returned with scores of 89 and 69* in the second Test, whereas Sundar scored 42 runs in the first innings. The two spinners bagged one wicket each in the second innings after going wicketless in the first essay.
The third Test match between India and England will be played at Lord’s, London from 10th July onwards.
